A friend sent a link to this LitHub post by Lan Samantha Chang called “Writers, Protect Your Inner Life.” I suspect it is the writers who are able to do this who best tap into those experiences of surprise, delight, and recognition–that ability to begin a story in one way and then carry the reader to some completely unexpected place. I think of this ability to be somewhat like diving from a high place and carrying a reader along as the writer gracefully hits the surface of water, a startling sensation that leads to a sense of being utterly supported by a sea of language.
